Kindred Group's 2020 second quarter and first half year highlights included gross winnings revenue of £235.1m for Q2, an increase of four per cent, and £484.8m for H1.
Underlying EBITDA for the second quarter of 2020 was £51.7m (30.9) and £94.2m (62) for the first half of 2020. Profit before tax for the second quarter amounted to £31.3m (14.7) and £33.7m (32.4) for the first half of 2020.
Profit after tax for the second quarter amounted to £26.8m (12.5) and £27.8m (27.6) for the first half of 2020. The profit before tax was impacted by foreign currency gain on operating items of net £1.8m (loss of 2.4) and foreign currency losses of £5.1m (nil) on retranslation of borrowings of which £4.5m are unrealised translation losses.
Free cash flow for the second quarter amounted to £74.3m (12.4). £32.8m of borrowings was repaid in the quarter and the net debt position has improved since the first quarter to £61.m as at June 30, 2020. Earnings per share for the second quarter were £0.118m (0.055) and £0.123 (0.122) for the first half of 2020. The number of active customers during the second quarter was 1,313,399 (1,478,437).
“Gross winnings revenue for the second quarter amounted to £235.1m, achieving growth of four per cent despite the significant disruption to the normal sports calendar," said Henrik Tjärnström, CEO of Kindred Group.
"The growth was mainly driven by positive performances across a number of markets as a result of strong focus on product differentiation. The decisive actions taken by Kindred to mitigate the impact of Covid-19 disruption contributed to an increase of 70 per cent in EBITDA during the quarter.
"The main savings were achieved in marketing, which is logical as most marketing is linked to sports events. Over the coming quarters, we plan to increase our marketing towards normal levels in line with our long-term strategy, but we will manage this process in a cautious way. Betting duties also fell compared to previous quarters, because of the significant impact of sports in the French market, which is subject to the highest tax rates.
“Our teams around the world have worked incredibly well in the new environment, both in dealing with the challenges from the pandemic and in driving efficiency as our cost reduction programme continues. Kindred remains conscious of the risk of further disruption both to sports and the wider economy, so we will continue to manage the overall cost base carefully.”
